The Elemental Luna Book 1 Sable's Rise : Dreame Edition

Maxius' Recounting

Karrah was shocked and unable to say anything, so she slowly turned her head to face Vestuvious. He looked back at her and smiled. Head High Priestess Laurel turned her attention to Maxius.

"Maxius, please give your account of what happened." He took a deep breath, put his left arm around Karrah, and started.

"I was on guard duty just around the pack house. Alpha Jax had asked all the able-bodied pack members to help guard my sister, Luna Maelynne, because he was worried she'd go into labor. A patrol group was dispatched only minutes before. The feral rogues were coordinating, and we couldn't figure out why. Rex, our brother, was leading the patrol. Outside a small handful of pack members charged with pack house guard duty, he was our best warrior. Not long after they were out of my line of sight, we were notified about what could only be described as a coordinated swarm attack." Maxius took a quick deep breath and continued.

"One of our pack members had her children at the park in our territory. Her mate was killed in the last rogue attack, so she was extra vigilant. She said that she smelled something foul, but couldn't put her finger on it. When she mind-linked the pack, she said it was a mixture of rotting meat and eggs. She was terrified and kept us mind linked the whole time... giving us flashes of what she was seeing and her location as she rushed her children back towards the pack house. When she told us that she was almost half of the way to the pack house, she mind linked dozens of feral rogue werewolves surrounding her. She made her children run while she fought them. They made it in view just as a feral rogue knocked me into the fountain of Poseidon... dazing me." Maxius closed his eyes for a few minutes and took a few deep, slow, and shaky breaths. When he opened his eyes, they were watery... tears were slowly, and quietly, dropping. Maxius continued.

"While I tried to gather myself as quickly as I could and get back on my feet, one of the feral werewolves jumped on top of me and went for my throat. That's when Alpha Jax and Beta Trenton arrived already shifted in their wolves, Onyx and Jett. Alpha Jax and his wolf Onyx knocked the feral werewolf off of me and Beta Trenton and his wolf Jett ripped its head off. I finally got back to my feet and shifted right as her pups reached what used to be the front door of the pack house and jumped inside. Instantly, I jumped in between them. She was still linking images and sounds regularly. Not long after they got inside, roughly thirty feral rogues came running after them." Maxius paused and took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit. Seeming to need a drink to soothe his throat, he took his arm from around Karrah and leaned forward towards the table. He grabbed a coffee cup and poured himself some coffee.

Maxius took his right hand, waved it over his coffee, and added hot chocolate and marshmallows in various sizes and colors. Grabbing his now hot chocolate with marshmallows and coffee mixture, he took a sip. Vestuvious leaned forward, grabbed a fruit pastry, and took a bite as he sat back again and watched Karrah with a smile and sparkle in his eyes... matching Laurel's. Karrah smiled slightly, leaned up, grabbed a plate, and filled it with a little bit of everything on the table before leaning back, slowly eating the food on her plate.

"I don't know how many I managed to kill before I was blindsided by a massive rogue. I was knocked down and then thrown into Poseidon's fountain. At that point, everything went black. I couldn't see or hear anything at all. At least not consistently. Everything was foggy... sounds were muffled. It took Drakus longer than normal to heal us. When everything cleared, I had just climbed out of the fountain. That's when my sister reached out to me." Maxius smiled slightly as he thought about his sister.

"I was so happy for my sister when she found out Jax was her mate. They've been friends since they were pups... always had a thing for each other. Maelynne and Jax never acted on their feelings because they wanted to wait until they were sure that they were mates. Jax was the son of the Alpha. My sister, brothers, and I were born in a different pack along the border of the Midnight Skye pack. Our mom used to tell us that the Alpha was trying to figure out how the 'baddies', as she put it, kept getting past our Sentinels." Maxius took a deep breath and continued.

"Before our parents found each other, mom was r***d by a rogue. I never knew all the details. Rex and I are twins. Fathered by that rogue. Since the Alpha was having trouble and our mom was too scared to stay, the Alpha made arrangements with Alpha Jax's father for us to move into the Midnight Sky pack. We were newborns. She met her mate about a year or so after we got here. They didn't end up meeting until her eighteenth birthday at the annual mating ball at the royal palace nearby. He was a pack warrior. Thankfully, he understood what happened to her and accepted my brother and I along with her. Maelynne is his. So is our sister, Rayneeriah. Alpha Jax is three years older than my sister. He knew that Maelynne was his mate when he turned sixteen and shifted for the first time and caught her scent... seeing her in the distance. He ended up telling me that he wanted to go to her right away, but she was having some quality time with a friend of hers that she barely ever seen, so he waited until the next day. The next day, Maelynne was in the pack house greenhouse and Jax walked in. He followed her scent. She started to shift. Not long after, a ceremony was held to announce them as the next Alpha and Luna." Maxius smiled.

"Anyway...what finally made me fully come to was my sister mind linking my niece and refusing to leave. She specifically called out to me in full Luna mode and tone. She ordered me to get Sable out of there at all costs. I immediately made my niece leave, telling her that if she left and could get to the nearest pack and get back up, we might have a chance, then Jax and I cleared the pathway to get to Karrah and Sable. He summoned Air to pull as many enemies as possible at once. It allowed me to get to them quickly. I shared control with Drakus. When we finally made it to the stairs, I smelled my mate, Karrah. Not realizing it was her. We started up the stairs and met each other in the middle. We all said 'Mate'." At this point, Maxius took a few drinks of his coffee-hot coco and continued.

"For just a few moments, Drakus and I forgot where we were. Karrah reminded us what our mission was and pushed us on after kissing us. We kept Alpha Jax and Luna Maelynne updated on our progress through the tunnel, even though Luna never responded. We figured it would help her to know that Sable was on her way out. Jax summoned Air to clear our way both before and after I shifted. Halfway to our border, we took a breather. That's when a feral rogue jumped out to attack and Vestuvious lept out in our defense. After he killed it, he shifted, told us he wanted to help and guarded us all the way here. The next thing I knew, I woke up outside the dining hall with Karrah on the daybed across from me. I didn't see Vestuvious."

Head High Priestess Laurel poured herself another cup of tea and sat back. She glanced over at Sable with a small smile before turning her attention back to the trio in front of her.

"That's quite a lot to deal with in such a short time. Are you still able to feel and sense your pack mates?"

"Some of them, yes." Maxius answered.

"Yes, mom." Karrah answered.

"Most of them, darling." Vestuvious answered, surprising Karrah and Maxius. They stopped in the mid-rise of their cups to their lips and with wide eyes, looked over to Vestuvious. He chuckled. "I guess it's my turn now "